Cruel Past
by The Mysterious Wizard
Summary: PB learns just how tough Marceline had it as a child. Takes place during the upcoming episode "Sky Witch". I think this would be a good scene.


**A/N: Hello everyone! I don't know if you heard yet, but apparently season 6 of Adventure Time has been delayed, and they are adding on another 25 episodes to season 5. This story takes place in an upcoming episode entitled "Sky Witch" where Marceline and Princess Bubblegum try to track down a witch. This is what I thought would make a good scene in the episode. Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Adventure Time. Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward, and the song belongs to Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo.**

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Marceline rubbed two sticks together, creating a fire. It lit up the part of the forest they were in. PB threw a jumble of sticks into the flames.

"We've been tracking this witch for days." she grumbled. "What is it that you want from her?"

"She has something precious of mine. It's something my Ex started a long time ago." Marceline replied.

"I guess I'm not the only one who's had romance issues in the past." PB remarked. "I still regret not staying with Finn."

"Cheer up, Bonnie. We need our strength. It's a tough world out there." She began to hum silently:

**_Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum._**

**_Makin' your way in the world today takes everything you got,_**

**_Takin' a break from all your worries sure would help a lot,_**

**_Wouldn't it be nice to get away?_**

**_Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name,_**

**_And they're always glad you came._**

**_You wanna go where everybody knows your name._**

**"**Did you write that?" asked PB.

"No. It's just something I learned from—an old friend." She sat down on a log, and reached into a bag of marshmallows. "Want some?" she asked. PB scowled at her.

"You're sick. That would be cannibalism." she replied. "And you shouldn't use that method to create a fire; you could severely burn yourself."

"I didn't know you cared." Marceline teased.

"I don't!" yelled PB. "It's just not the scientific procedure." She sat on her sleeping bag.

"Relax. I know what I'm doing. I used to create fires all the time when I was little. I had a rough childhood."

PB asked "Please. What do you know about a rough childhood?"

"A lot more than you think." she replied. "How was your childhood rough? You're a kindhearted, overly pampered princess. You have it easy."

PB answered "My parents died when I was nine years old. I had to give up all the fun of being a kid to rule the Candy Kingdom." She crossed her arms. "Every citizen was counting on me to solve all the problems. I had to make sure the Lich didn't escape. So many suitors were after my hand in matrimony, I had to worry about being kidnapped by that disgrace to Ooo royalty, that delusional, pathetic excuse for a ruler, the Ice King, and on top of everything else, everyone relied on me to make the decisions that would decide the fate of my people. You don't know what it's like." Marceline stared at her.

"Is that it? That doesn't even compare to my childhood." She said.

"I was deprived of my youth!" shouted PB.

"You don't know what that means. You think you're such a genius. You're starting to offend me. Even if your childhood fun was taken away, you still had a warm bed. You still had servants to tend to your every need. You still had comfort. You still had what I didn't; a home." PB quieted down. She hadn't thought of that. "I've been around longer than you. The world I knew was destroyed."

"Marceline, I had no idea. What happened?" she asked. Marceline frowned, and stared into the fire.

"At the climax of the Mushroom War, a giant bomb was dropped. The nuclear waste from the explosion destroyed my hometown, and killed my friends. My mother died of radiation sickness. My Dad being a demon, he was never around. He had to rule the Nightosphere. I was alone in the wilderness. I had nobody. My mother was dead, my dad was a jerk. All the things I'd come to know; gone. My life had gone from great to cruel. And every day I thought that it was just a matter of time before death took me. But I was saved. So all these inconveniences that you call a 'rough childhood', are nowhere near as bad as the life scarring challenges that I faced. Oh, yeah, and that 'pathetic excuse for a ruler' was the one that saved me." PB's eyes widened.

"No way." she said. "Ice King?"

"Yeah. He was my hero. He saved me from the wilderness. We traveled together, all across Ooo. He cared for me, and he was kind to me. I loved him. For the first time in years, I had a true friend. Then one day, he snapped. The crown took his sanity. He didn't remember anything. He left me by myself, and I was alone again." A tear ran down her face. "I hated him for it. It crushed me inside, being alone again! After everything I'd been through, I was back to square one, and the last memory I had left of a happy childhood was sold by my ex-boyfriend to the very witch we're chasing. Still think your childhood was rough?"

"I'm sorry, Marceline, I didn't know. I'm a selfish jerk." said PB.

"Don't be like that, Bonnie. After all, we've both found some new friends." PB thought of Finn and Jake, and how they had saved her countless times. "And Simon and I have made up now, so it's alright."

PB asked "Simon?"

"Oh right," said Marceline. "That's the Ice King's real name."

"Wow." replied PB. "I never thought the Ice King would have such a sophisticated name. Was he smart?"

"Yeah, he might have been smarter than you at one time." She took a marshmallow and threw it at PB's face.

"Hey!" shouted PB. She snatched the bag from Marceline, and threw a marshmallow back at her. They continued pelting each other with marshmallows and laughing, until Marceline accidentally threw one into PB's mouth. PB screamed.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" said Marceline. PB began to chew, and eventually swallowed.

"Hey, that's actually pretty good! My people taste delicious!" she remarked.

"Ugh, that's messed up!" laughed Marceline. The two girls laughed, and smiled at each other.

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**Just a short little story. I thought this would make an amusing scene. What did you guys think? Read and Review.**

**-The Mysterious Wizard **


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